Brown: referendum if tests passed

Chancellor Gordon Brown today reasserted the primacy of his judgment of Britain's economic interests in the decision on whether or not to call a referendum on the euro.

Downing Street has said that it would be the Cabinet that decided whether a referendum should be called, after consideration of Mr Brown's assessment of his five economic tests on whether entry is in the UK's economic interests.

Mr Brown today pledged that if his colleagues decided to put the question to the people, he would fight as hard as any of them for a Yes vote.

But he made clear weeks ago that he expected their decision to follow his assessment of the tests - which is widely expected to be negative.

The tests would be "the centrepiece" of his announcement to the House of Commons on June 9.

Outcome to reflect country's interests

It would be the results of the tests, and not political "dogma" or the personal ambitions of individual politicians, which determined whether the Government recommended British entry, Mr Brown insisted.

"The five tests effectively define the national economic interest for our country," said Mr Brown. "It is a guarantee that we can ensure jobs, investment and the future profitability of industry and the prosperity of the country.

"When I make the statement to Parliament on June 9, the focus will be on these five economic tests that define the economic interests of the country."

The Treasury's long and painstaking assessment of the economic implications for Britain of euro entry was "insurance" for voters that there would be no repeat of the Exchange Rate Mechanism debacle of the early 1990s, he said.

"It is our insurance policy against making the mistakes of the past, particularly the mistakes that were made in the ERM era under the last government," he said.

"When we joined the ERM, nobody did an assessment. The national economic interest was not really analysed in detail."

18 studies to be published

Cabinet ministers have been reading the 18 studies prepared by the Treasury on the implications of euro entry for issues ranging from the housing market, high street prices and the City.

Mr Brown said he expected voters to be interested by the 18 Treasury documents, which will be made public on Monday.

"I think people will be very interested in the findings of our documentation," he said. "I think they will like to look at it in considerable detail."

Press speculation has suggested that Mr Blair has accepted a negative judgment in return for a commitment to a fresh assessment before the General Election of 2005 or 2006.